Ashes 2025 live score: England’s hopes in tatters as Travis Head notches century to give Australia huge lead

Read the full story from day three:

Part-time spinner Will Jacks conceded 107 runs from 19 overs, taking just one wicket.

The 27-year-old all-rounder had also given up 105 runs in the first innings, and his displays have raised questions over England’s decision to leave Shoaib Bashir out of the side on what was considered a more spin-friendly surface in Adelaide.

“I don’t think he has bowled poorly,” Patel said. “They’ve played him very well. They’ve used the crease, gone deep, charged down the pitch, used both sides of the wicket and looked to score.

“They’ve put him under pressure, which is probably what you would do against Jacks’ spin, where it’s not his frontline skill as such. I still believe Bashir is our number one guy and he does a fantastic job for us.

“But in these conditions, it’s horses for courses. With all four seamers firing and Jacks backing them up, I think that can work very well. It just didn’t play out as well as I would have liked.”

England will need to produce “something magical” on day four of the third Ashes Test against Australia if they are to have any chance of turning the tide, according to the visitors’ spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel.

“I still believe there’s an opportunity for us. It won’t be easy. We’re going to need something magical,” he told reporters.

“But I think it’s about time we saw something magical from us. It’s three games in, we’ve thrown some punches but taken a lot, and I think it’s about time now that, backed into a corner, we throw some haymakers back.

“I thought some of the plans we chose today, and the way we executed at times, were fantastic, but they didn’t quite go our way. We’ve just got to hold the belief.”

He could not do so, but Carse forced one past Weatherald's defences and picked him up for one, a decision that would have been overturned on DRS.

Josh Tongue removed the out-of-sorts Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green, while Usman Khawaja nicked Jacks behind, but Head continued tucking in.

There were a couple of nerves on 99, culminating in the tough chance he slashed to Brook, but Head soon launched Root over the top before kissing the turf.

The last hour was easy pickings as he and Alex Carey milked a partnership of 122 against a flat attack.

England started the day by adding 73 runs for their last two wickets, nudging their total up to 286 all out. Stokes, rendered strokeless by fatigue in the 40 degree heat of day two, was moving better in gentler temperatures on Friday morning and found good tempo with Archer.

The number 10 batted with a better technique than several of his top-order team-mates, mostly in restrained fashion other than one big swing for six off Lyon. Both men passed 50, Archer for the first time in Test cricket, as the tourists for once enjoyed some positivity, but things changed when the second new ball arrived.

Stokes sensed an opportunity to attack, but was bowled by Mitchell Starc between bat and pad with a belligerent century unclaimed.

Archer followed when he nicked Scott Boland to slip, leaving England five overs to land a blow before lunch.

As always, the very presence of Stokes provides some cause for hope, but there must be concerns over his body's ability to cope with the demands he continues to place on it. He batted for five hours and 12 minutes for his dogged 83, which occupied 198 deliveries and included the slowest half-century of his career, and suffered from cramp and dehydration on Thursday evening.

Tellingly, he did not bowl a single over in Australia's second innings despite the desperation to remove Head. Archer was also used sparingly as the scoreboard ran away from England, putting their bowling resources under serious strain.

Will Jacks tried again to fill the shoes of a senior international spinner, but was found wanting on a pitch that his masterful opposite number Nathan Lyon had thoroughly enjoyed. The all-rounder, better known for his batting than bowling, served up 19 overs for 107, with Joe Root chipping in with eight more.

A battling stand of 106 from England's warrior-like captain Ben Stokes and tailender Jofra Archer had kept the first-innings deficit down to 85, giving the slightest hint that a remarkable comeback might be possible.

And when Brydon Carse removed Jake Weatherald lbw with his third ball, those slim chances ticked up another few percentage points. But Head took the game away with another excellent counter-punching knock at his home ground, where he now has four hundreds in his last four appearances.

He was dropped on 99 by Harry Brook in the gully, a hard chance but another installment in an increasingly long list of drops, and ended the day dominant with 13 fours and two sixes.

England are now fighting to avoid the ignominy of losing their biggest series in just 10 days of competitive cricket, an unwanted record that would beat the 11 days Nasser Hussain's 2002-03 team managed against a vintage Australia.

England inched closer to a humbling Ashes defeat as Australia's accidental opener Travis Head scored his second century of the series.

Head struck a match-winning hundred in the first Test at Perth after volunteering his services as an emergency stand-in and another vital ton on day three at the Adelaide Oval put his side in sight of an unassailable 3-0 lead.

By stumps he had 142 not out in a score of 271 for four, leaving England 356 runs behind. Their eventual chase will surely dwarf the unforgettable 362 they made at Headingley in 2019, while their previous high of 332 on Australian soil is a distant memory.

Steven Finn has just been absolutely hammered by fellow pundits Justin Langer and Graeme Swann for suggesting Australia might declare tomorrow.

“Why?” asks Langer.

Swann adds: “They’ll make England bowl them out. You don’t look at the forecast and go, let’s give England a sniff at winning this game.”

Langer: “Why would they declare? They’re 2-0 up in the Ashes. To be good blokes? No chance.”

Swann: “That’s definitely right!”

Nathan Lyon speaks to TNT Sports: “Very happy with where we are at the moment. I’d like a few more runs. Looking forward to the opportunity to get myself into the game.”

On beating Glenn McGrath’s Test wicket tally: “Everyone knows my history here with the Adelaide Oval, so to overtake one of my childhood heroes is pretty special.”

On keeping on playing: “Loving it, loving my role within the Australian cricket room. The team’s amazing, they are a great bunch of guys.”